


Re:Tale; Repeat (Sephiroth Week 2017)

by Illusioneery (Arkee)



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Mentioned Human Experimentation, M/M, Mind Control/Influencing, Minor Character Death, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-22 00:57:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12469920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arkee/pseuds/Illusioneery
Summary: Entries for the Sephiroth Appreciation Week





	1. Labs

**Author's Note:**

> As an appreciation week challenge, there will be a new chapter up for each day, each following a theme.
> 
> Today's theme is "Labs."
> 
> -
> 
>  
> 
> _(An unexpected conversation, heard in the eerie quietude of the labs.)_

Even when he arrives at his apartment, he can still feel all the things that make the Shinra Science Department what it is. The smells of chemicals —  _of mako, too_  — that cling to him like a ghost seeking to haunt, the sheer cleanness of the place, the distant sounds of whatever specimens would be brought there to be worked on, the blinding lights that never fail in giving him headaches.

_And Hojo. Always Hojo_.

Hojo who, upon getting yelled at, made sure that he regretted his words by the use of scientific procedures, (always Science) that wouldn’t harm him in the long term in regards to his physical condition but that were unnecessary, regardless, even if those were allowed to be performed as they wouldn’t bring the company to ruin and Sephiroth wasn’t a head of any department to have much say on it.

Sephiroth steps into his own shower — that unlike the ones in the Science Department, don’t restrict the time he takes to clean off or throw mako (and whatever else the SOLDIER serum is made of) over him — still feeling somewhat disgusted with himself due to the experience, as something about having a certain scientist ( _“scientist”_ ) handle such procedures with free allowance to abuse them if necessary ( _unnecessary_ ) makes him feel dirty. He lets the warm water wash away the stress, uncaring of how expensive his long showers tend to be for the company.

_They’d rather pay to have me before letting me go_.

Deliberately taking his time to have his hair as clean as it was before he entered the labs, he ends up spending even more time than he usually does in the shower. And it’s only after then, as he’s blow drying his hair that he realizes something that has an utter dread set low in his stomach.

He’s forgotten his phone in that damned place.

Worse, he needs to have the phone with him in the morning and thus, doesn’t have the privilege of waiting until the following day to fetch it. Especially worse than that, at the time he notices this, the Science Department’s officially closed for the day, meaning only a certain someone would be there; lingering for one or another last-minute experiment of the day.

Not really wanting the extra interaction, he decides to sneak in. He was trained for the necessity of being stealthy because of the war, after all, a laboratory should be an easier task.

Except nothing even prepares him for the conversation he gets to hear, which forces him to hide behind some of the complex equipment of the labs as quickly and discreetly as he can.

“No, boy, I told you to send her back to Nibelheim,” Hojo says to someone on the other side of a call, quite angered, “Or do I have to take her there myself?” There’s a pause as whoever it is on the end of the line probably tries to explain themselves.

( _A foolish move_.)

“Just make sure Jenova gets there safe and sound.”

_Jenova… his mother_?

Sephiroth watches from the place he’s hiding as the annoyed scientist ends the call, a little too intrigued; somewhat concerned with what he just heard. Hojo turns to look right at his hiding spot in such an eerie manner that he could swear the old man’s able to sense his presence if he didn’t know any better.

“Hmm… very intriguing,” the scientist mutters to himself but turns again to go on his merry way, failing to detect Sephiroth entirely. Or so the SOLDIER hopes.

Regardless of which of those is the case, Sephiroth wastes no time in getting out of the labs as quick as he can. Outside, he meets a lonesome infantryman guarding the area — who was definitely not there before — and quickly motions for the man to stay quiet.

“If word comes out I’ve been here tonight, I’ll know it’s you and I’ll see to it you’re properly dismissed from your duties. Understood, cadet?”

The infantryman, a little too short compared to most of his peers, simply nods somewhat hesitantly. _Nobody expects General Sephiroth to appear during one’s night shift and ask (threaten) for secrecy, anyway_.

“Good,” Sephiroth offers to that agreement, “May your shift go well.”

That isn’t something he gets to say very often — especially to infantrymen in general — but in the heat of the moment he doesn’t quite catch himself before it slips out, nor makes any attempt of taking back the words. He has a place to go, after all, and until he gets on an elevator the risk of being seen by someone else in Hojo’s vicinity is far greater than what he prefers. There’s no way he’s going to ruin the efforts he put in not being seen, (except by that single, scared infantryman) not even by cameras, by being seen by even more people.  _Gossip travels fast inside Shinra_.

When he finally gets back home again and lies down to try to sleep, Sephiroth finds out that the strange conversation he witnessed won’t leave his head.

It’s not an unfamiliar feeling, having trouble to sleep after returning from the labs, but yet this time it’s different.  _His mother is likely alive and being taken somewhere_   _else_.  _His mother who was kept from him for so longer_.

He wonders.  _If all this time she’s been around and alive instead of what he’s been told all his life, then why would Hojo and the company want to keep them apart?_  Sephiroth finds out the thought offers a dozen other questions that just keep him from relaxing and simply falling asleep.

Silently cursing his luck, he turns onto his side and covers his head with the pillow, a little too annoyed.

Maybe… if she’s in the company — or has been in the company recently — there should be data about her somewhere. He promises himself he’ll search for said data when the next day comes, if anything, to give himself some peace of mind.


	2. Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _(Of the friends who are long gone and of what remained in the aftermath)_

Sephiroth takes one last look at the background image in his phone before turning it off, — the usage of the devices being something prohibited in the data room, after all — a sigh betraying him and escaping his lips.

The people in the picture will never come back to him. A logical part of his mind begs for him to change the wallpaper; choose something, anything else that doesn’t bring sad reminders of those two. Angeal looks somewhat innocent, — as if he were caught off guard — while Genesis smiles at the camera, lowering his sunglasses ( _Sephiroth’s_ sunglasses, that the redhead sort of stole for himself) just a little in an attempt to give off an air of challenge.

Stepping into the data room itself, Sephiroth tries not to think about how he was given permission to go through their things after they were declared killed in action and how he found said pair of sunglasses again; tries not to think about all the cooking books and plants from Angeal’s influence in the pair’s apartment, where all three of them liked to reunite in, between assignments and training.

_Breathe in and it’ll be alright_.

The data room is probably the most silent room in the entirety of Shinra Tower; a library barely visited these days with a small area dedicated to computers where one can browse the entire archive — and more, especially for restricted content which required a password — in digital format.

What he’s about to look for certainly isn’t open for the public if he’s never learned much about it, so Sephiroth ignores the shelves, so full of countless books, and heads straight for the computers.

Clearly, he’s not meant to even look at the data, given his authentification gives no results whatsoever for “Jenova”. Having spent enough time around Hojo, however, has given Sephiroth more than just the headaches he has to deal with whenever he meets the man in his scientific ( _“scientific”_ ) domain. Hojo’s credentials are what finally makes data show up; more than expected and enough for one in Sephiroth’s position to be both curious and alarmed by it.

Clicking one of the files shows him that things aren’t as easy as he supposes them to be, but again, he’s unimpressed by it. Of course, if Hojo didn’t want him to know anything about that, he’d put a second password on top of the requirement of using the head of the Science Department’s credentials to block any unauthorized access to the contents.

And of course, every password Sephiroth tries fails.

Part of him wishes Genesis was there, urging him to go a step further and just try to hack his way in. Which Sephiroth would refuse, only to have the redhead try to break in himself — and Gaia, did Genesis have an uncanny ability with that, despite being born and raised in the countryside. Angeal would scold them about doing such a thing, mentioning honor and staying true to one’s principles.

(Sephiroth had sent Zack in an attempt to bring them back while they still could be helped — or so he hoped — but both of them refused the help. Angeal was Zack’s mentor. If there was anything Sephiroth regretted deeply was handing the younger man the task of an executioner. He should’ve known better, given his history with war and death. Now he could only blame that one part of himself which soared with hope at the thought of recovering his friends and shoving sense into them.)

While he keeps trying to crack the code to see the files, he hears the door open and close.

Sephiroth expects someone of the likes of Mayor Domino to enter the room, for the silence to remain undisturbed while he gives one more attempt at it, not… Zack Fair.

_Great, I can summon puppies by thinking about them_.

“Oh, so there you are!” Zack says, way too loud considering where they were “Man, I’ve been looking for you all around! Someone said you’d totally be here, so I—”

The silver haired man is quick to motion for the puppy-eyed SOLDIER to be quiet or at the very least lower his voice a little.

“Sorry. Anyway, I just thought I’d invite you for lunch since it’s well… _that_ day and, yeah...”

_Oh_. The realization hits Sephiroth like a bullet he can’t dodge. It’s the day both of them lost Angeal, or rather, Sephiroth lost him from his spot in the headquarters while Zack was fighting the man to the death. The thought never failed to make his stomach turn.

Sephiroth accepts the invitation just as quick as he was to warn the other man about being loud in such a place, not thinking much about it, aside from a sense of obligation to an old friend. Angeal would’ve lectured him about turning down a request like that one, then reminded him about the dangers of neglecting his own body’s need for food.

However, he can’t help but feel distant during most of it; his thoughts wandering everywhere — from Angeal and Genesis, to the meaning of the date, to the conversation he witnessed Hojo having with someone, to the fact knowledge on that matter just seemed to be out of his reach entirely as there was no point in confronting the scientist about it, especially given that the man held more power than him as the head of a department and could definitely lie about it all, as he had done when telling his mother died during his birth.

_I feel as though I’m out of options_.

Zack takes his distance as a natural reaction to the day and what it means for the two of them, thankfully respecting it. It’s in moments like those that Sephiroth can see the influence his old friend had on this young man and despite the fact that it hurts to see yet another fragment of Angeal, — a _legacy_ of his late friend — he’s somehow glad it’s there.

He’s also glad that the dessert they agree upon turns out to have a generous amount of dumbapples in it, allowing his mind to drift away from his own issues to bask in the comfort of the little signs here and there.

On their way back, Zack gets entirely sidetracked when catching sight of an infantryman; fully dressed in the army uniform, complete with helmet, yet somehow recognizable. Zack — clearly everyone’s friend — wishes him a good afternoon and dashes off to practically lift the unfortunate cadet off the ground with a hug. The poor thing’s helmet falls off his head to reveal hair much like a chocobo’s crest, all spiky and bright blond.

Sephiroth observes the scene for a moment longer, somewhat amused by the sight, before turning to leave.


	3. Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _(A shared battle and an intriguing warning after it)_

Almost as if the company knew he was up to something that went against their wishes, Sephiroth ended up assigned to a mission a little too soon after his short visit to the data room, away from both Nibelheim and Midgar. The feeling he’s being placed somewhere else in a vain attempt of containing his curiosity is aggravated by the fact the mission's objectives have it sound like it could be handled by a small group of thirds, seconds at most.

Granted, the risk of attack by Genesis copies is still significant even if’s been quite a while the source of the problem’s been dead, but regardless, even if he probably shouldn’t, Sephiroth can’t help but think of himself as a resource being wasted at the moment.

One of the men assigned to the same mission as him sleeps most of the way to the location, totally knocked out by the side effects of the medicine he took for his motion sickness. As Sephiroth watches him sleep from the corner of his eye — just to give himself something to keep his mind busy and off issues related to old friends — he recognizes the bright blond hair and the face he only saw from a distance.

_...Good to see you?_

The cadet is so small that the general wouldn’t be surprised if he was the very infantryman who was guarding the labs just the other night and yet… _What are the chances?_

_Well, if Zack finds ways to be everywhere_ …

The truck they’re in suddenly stops, pulling him out of his thoughts. It’s so abrupt that the sleeping infantryman is crudely awakened by the movement, barely able to get himself together before they’re all required to step into action. As it turns out, the road is blocked by a significant number of Genesis copies.

There’s not even time to plan properly, just enough to give the command for the seconds to move into the battle with him and for the infantrymen to stay behind them and do what they do best in such situations: shoot the enemy to offer them an advantage. And as such, even if one of the men in the front fell, they were still expected to keep performing their duties.

The unexpected happening — the little cadet recklessly leaving his post to grab a fallen second’s sword and assume said man’s position — is enough to distract Sephiroth for the briefest of the moments.

_What in Hel are you doing?_

Sephiroth considers ordering the infantryman to stay back, but he’s quick to notice how the blond deals with one of the copies, almost as though he’s had to deal with many of them before. The fighting technique he employs reminds the general of both Zack and Angeal… which is strange given that one of them was dead and the other was definitely not training anyone — there was a whole set of rules to follow when one wanted to be a tutor in Shinra and obvious paperwork that would certainly reach Sephiroth in a manner or another.

There is no time to question it, however. Sephiroth swings the Masamune, taking advantage of the blade’s powerful reach and ridding them of several copies at once, — _Defeat them with one blow_ , as he had half challenged, half instructed Zack once — leaving only a few to be dealt with.

This is the exact moment the reckless infantryman gets knocked back, landing a few feet away from the fight with an unpleasant noise. Making sure that there are just enough copies left that the men can definitely handle the issue without his help, Sephiroth does something that goes against his basic training; running to check on the small cadet.

“S-sir? ...I’m okay, don’t mind me…” He sounds far from being fine, however.

_Turn your back to the enemy to help someone and you could end up a casualty as well_ , the voice, a memory, rings in Sephiroth’s head, but he dismisses it. He doesn’t exactly know what and yet, there’s definitely something about the infantryman that calls his attention in an odd way. (Something that has Sephiroth wanting to keep him safe, other than the fact Zack would probably be upset if something happened to the blond, considering his actions on the other day.)

The infantryman tries to stand in an attempt to prove his words, only to fall into Sephiroth’s arms.

When Sephiroth puts him down again, back in the truck, the cadet seems to be both flustered and in pain. He avoids looking at the general, biting on his own lip nervously.

“You didn’t break anything,” the silver haired man offers after a quick examination, “but you’ll have trouble walking for a few d—”

“Don’t… Please don’t go to Nibelheim, sir.”

The words confuse Sephiroth. He opens his mouth to ask, only for the infantryman to repeat what he’s said, sounding slightly more desperate.

“Don’t go to Nibelheim, ever,” the blond begs, “There’s a trap—” he begins to explain but notices the other men approaching, ready to be within the safety of their transport so they could treat their wounds before continuing to their actual destination, and falls silent again; the anxious expression taking over his face once more.

Sephiroth stares at him for a moment, frustrated — it’s the second time in not so long that he’s being denied information after getting so close to it. Regardless of it, he doesn’t believe for a second that the cadet is lying or has hit his head with enough force to start hallucinating things. The hint of desperation in those sky blue eyes… it only makes him wish they had more private time to discuss further what the blond was trying to alert him about.

_I need to find you later_ , Sephiroth thinks. _We won’t have any time alone during this mission_.

And in the distraction of the other men with each other, he takes the chance to ask a simple question in an almost whisper, while casting a cure to at least offer some relief to the shorter man.

“Cadet? What’s your name?”

“It’s Strife, sir.” This earns the infantryman a demanding look. _Not just the last name, please_. “Cloud Strife.”

Sephiroth nods once with a hum.

_I’ll remember you_.


	4. Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _(The power to change everything and a revelation of a threat to one’s power.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this one, some things are to change.
> 
> For one, a few more tags are to be added, for another, it'll get a title (that's not Seph Week 2017 xP).
> 
> Expect next chapter to be somewhat longer? I don't know, next prompt (Nature) got me hyped to write and it got a little out of hand compared to the usual chapter size so far.

It takes more time than what he initially expected, finding that particular infantryman again.

 _Troublesome weather, indeed_.

When he does, however, it’s on pure chance instead of it being a result of his searching. Sephiroth was never aware of how infantrymen and other workers at Shinra could manage to blend in so well to the point of complete disappearance. Strife’s squad was unexpectedly small — like the young man himself — and its cadets were often assigned to work with other squads as well.

He always expected to find the blond during service and face the difficulty of approaching him in a way that wouldn’t generate gossip due to his very rank and person, never on the training grounds at such an unholy hour of the night; apparently finishing a workout while Sephiroth searched for things to do to alleviate his frustration.

 _Finally_.

Strife seems to have discarded the top part of his uniform on a nearby bench, sporting a simple black tank top that made his dog tags over it quite noticeable even from a fair distance. Sephiroth notices him picking a bottle of water and downing its contents almost desperately as he approaches.

“Sir,” the blond greets him, a smile on his face that makes him seem slightly less tired.

“We meet again.”

The infantryman nods.

“I… Sir, there’s something you need to know. About Nibelheim.” He gestures towards the bench nearby. “If you’ll have a seat… sir?”

“You can drop the formalities, Strife.” The general notes, while sitting down. “We’re both off duty at the moment.”

Sephiroth watches as the shorter man gets somewhat flustered with the realization that yes, that means calling _The General_ by his first name. However, he never sees that smile coming — so reminiscent of the way Genesis liked to have an air of challenge about himself, somehow. He never foresees the little tease.

“I’ll do that, _sir_ , once you drop the formalities too.”

 _Stop calling me Strife_.

“Fair enough.” The SOLDIER agrees. “So, Cloud, wasn’t it?” A nod comes as confirmation. “Tell me more about the trap you mentioned.”

Cloud sits down beside him, letting out a sigh and hesitating just a little as though he’s summoning the courage to say the words or as if he’s just searching for the right way to say it. Sephiroth waits patiently.

“Professor Hojo has this monster,” he begins, “that he’s sending over to Nibelheim and… well…” He turns to the taller man. “I don’t know how this works exactly because I’m just a trooper, but. It seems it’s able to mind control and brainwash SOLDIERs. Or rather, one specific SOLDIER.”

Sephiroth can’t help but raise his eyebrows at that, realizing what the blond means by that.

“...Yeah. I tried to get into the labs to do something about it but… I got interrupted.”

 _So it was really him_ , Sephiroth thinks. And yet it troubles him that somehow an infantryman is this much aware of the Science department’s business.

“I’m sorry,” the general says, ”but I find your story difficult to believe without a source on how you obtained this information in the first place.”

Cloud looks skyward, and then chuckles.

“If I tell you that, you’ll say I’m either insane or that I hit my head too hard the day we fought the copies.”

“Try me.”

* * *

Out of all the things in the vast realm of possibilities, — overhearing a scientist, being at the wrong place at the wrong time, spying into folders while delivering them across departments — Sephiroth never supposes the blond’s source of information to be what it turns out to be. And never once the younger man’s expression betrays him or tells a lie about his absurd story.

He starts his tale by simply stating “I know it because I saw it happen once. And when I did, I ended up dead… because you killed me.” It has Sephiroth staring at him not knowing what to make out of it, imagining that the details he’s about to be told about involve foreseeing and the usual superstition of those who come from the countryside, especially given Nibelheim is a country town.

“I… could barely believe it myself either, at first,” Cloud continues, “I thought I just had a terrible dream in which you just go insane because of some monster, but…” He trails off.

“But?”

“I have something I shouldn’t have.” _Other than information about the labs business?_ “I have a scar that I didn’t have before.”

The blond takes off his tank top quite hurriedly, as if he doesn’t provide proof of his crazy story quickly, Sephiroth might stand up and leave him there without hearing all he needs to hear on it.

Exactly over the place his heart should be, there’s indeed a scar, its shape familiar to Sephiroth from his time in the war and the damage he inflicted in whoever stood in his path at that time. _About the same size as a stab wound inflicted by Masamune_.

He touches it after being granted permission, feeling the cadet shiver at the contact, then runs his fingers over the blond’s back to find a similar one; as if somehow Cloud was pierced through and survived. ( _Nobody should be able to survive this_.)

“Are you trying to imply…” Sephiroth begins and drifts off, still puzzled by the concept of it. Regaining a little of his ground moments later, he continues “That you indeed died in Nibelheim and with that… you traveled back in time?”

A nod is what comes as the reply to his question.

“It’s the only explanation that makes sense, yes. I… don't know how it happened, but I thought that, if I made it back, if I have the power to do it…” Blue eyes met Sephiroth’s turquoise ones with such a resolve that had the general somewhat fascinated by them. “That I should try to keep things from repeating.”

“So you can live this time?” Sephiroth ends up asking, but the blond shakes his head.

“No, not just that. I want to keep it from happening again so _you_ don't lose yourself. The things you did, the things I’ll tell you about… you're a force to be reckoned with... Sephiroth.”

The general could sense some hesitation coming from the blond as Cloud said his name, as if he was testing the waters; walking on eggshells, ready to go back to a well practiced and expected “sir”. The unnecessary caution should be annoying and yet, it feels warm.

 _(We're still off duty_.)

Sephiroth measures the risks, silently, as the blond carries on with telling him about the horrors he committed in that possible future — the burning of an entire town, assassination of innocents, his fall into the trap as a name, documents and the monster itself made him believe it to be his mother… the murder of the people trying to stop him in his lunacy… — but in the end he reaches an easy decision.

He won’t allow his power to be used for such evil.


	5. Nature

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _(Of a gentle witch in a flower garden and the things he seeks to discover.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to play "catch the reference", everyone? :P

After their accidental, yet fruitful meeting, Sephiroth made sure to exchange phone numbers. He knew he’d need to meet that cadet again, eventually. The situation was one that would require the guidance of someone with knowledge of it, even if that didn’t come from someone above him in power. (Which was an odd concept, the more he thought about it. Perhaps it was just the way the situation was unusual that bothered him. Regardless, Sephiroth let the thought slip away for the time being.)

His secretive new contact reaches out to him just in time, in an afternoon during which it was brought to his attention a series of apparent problems with the reactor in the Nibel area and that the company was considering sending him out to investigate the issue. The area was full of dangerous beasts, after all. (Dragons, twin brains, zuus and so on.) It wouldn’t do well to send just seconds and technicians. They could save the technicians for reactors closer to Midgar and spare them the dangers of the distant location, while preserving their SOLDIERs from harm at the same time, as they were more than simply confident in Sephiroth’s prowess as a warrior.

( _Overconfidence will do nothing but destroy you_.)

The message he gets from Cloud simply reads “ _Meet me near the Goblin’s Bar,_ ” with no reason added to it. It’s almost as if the blond knows saying so little and inviting for more is the way to catch his attention; setting a bait out to fish his curiosity.

When he’s able to, before he knows it, Sephiroth finds himself making his way to Loveless Avenue. He’s quick to see the cadet pretending to guard the area and wastes no time, promptly approaching him. Cloud gives him a salute as soon as he sees him, only dropping it when he’s told to be at ease.

They’re meant to follow protocol, after all, — at least while they’re in this area — so to the public eye and therefore, Shinra to an extend, it can be seen as just an infantryman reporting an issue to someone of superior rank who can deal with said problem.

“Sir, I’ve found the source of _that_ problem,” the blond says, keeping the act just in case someone nearby overhears them.

“Lead me to it.”

And Cloud does as he’s asked, guiding him all the way to the train station. The realization they’re going down to the slums hits Sephiroth rather quickly but he doesn’t ask. In fact, they don’t talk much until they’re sure nobody’s going to overhear anything they say.

It’s always a strange thing, trusting someone he barely knows to show him the way and yet, something about the blond other than the complicated story bounding them together at the moment makes him worth of trust.

“I met someone,” Cloud eventually says, “she sort of dragged me into a church and we had a long talk.”

“That’s where we’re going, then?”

The infantryman nods.

“I thought seeing her could help a little. With the _plan_.”

Oh yes, the plan. Which they discussed over texts a few times, looking for ideas on how to prevent what could happen in Nibelheim. They’d have to do it without alerting Hojo about their intentions. Refusing the mission wouldn’t do, as the scientist could always order his… _pet_ to be brought back to Midgar and for Sephiroth to go to the labs. But at the same time, going to that town could lead to trouble on pure accident. Cloud had suggested more than once for him to not accept the mission so the blond himself could sneak into the labs and solve their issue himself.

Sephiroth couldn’t help but think it was too risky to be worth it.

Part of the plan involved doing something to keep his mind anchored as well, to prevent him from engaging in reckless actions such as burning a whole town to the ground.

When they finally enter the church they’re headed to, Sephiroth has a feeling he knows what Cloud’s trying to do, while being completely lost on how this will help, if at all.

Just as they enter, a small woman stands from where she was kneeling down near the bright colored flowers that seem to grow in the place. She wears her long brown hair in a braid with a pink ribbon tied to it; her bangs framing her face just like his own do. Completely the opposite of him, she’s dressed in white; a dress that follows her little turn as she moves away from the flowers to approach them.

For a moment, as Sephiroth notices the green eyes, — different yet similar to his own in a way — he almost swears this is a long lost relative of his. He wonders about that.

_Why does she feel familiar?_

“Oh, you brought a friend!” She says to Cloud, before turning to him. “Hmm… Sephiroth, wasn’t it? Zack talks about you sometimes when he comes to visit.”

“You’re Zack’s girlfriend.” It finally clicks.

“Mhmm. The name’s Aerith.”

Sephiroth is thankful for the information as he couldn’t recall whether her name was Aerith or Aeris. He only knew that Zack seemed to be even more puppy than man whenever he mentioned her — which usually happened at times Sephiroth couldn’t fully pay attention to whatever he was saying, only catching bits of information here and there.

Aerith glances at Cloud for a moment, before the latter nods and leaves to sit by the flowers. Once the blond is away from them, she takes his hand.

“You’re looking for your truth, aren’t you? The place you came from, your family…”

He doesn't recall mentioning the topic with both Zack and Cloud, but nods regardless, with a puzzled expression.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, “It’s just that I feel as if somebody important to you is really troubled right now. Maybe she’s been for a long while.”

“How… how are you doing _this_?”

The brunette lets go of his hand, her green gaze drifting away from him.

“Ever since I was young I can… feel the Planet and the bits of it resonating within people, the animals, the flowers… everything.”

_Ever since I was young I knew I was different from the others._

Sephiroth takes a step back, a little nauseated by the thought. He doesn’t mean it as an offense against this young woman, but she doesn’t take it as one either, offering a sympathetic smile when she notices.

“It’s… a little scary, isn’t it? Sometimes it scares even me,” she pauses, getting a little sad so suddenly, “The first thing I thought when I saw you just now was that it must be sad… losing someone dear to you while trying to find out about yourself.” Sephiroth opens his mouth to say something, but she continues before he can say it. “But! It’s alright to grieve and maybe it’s okay to be so different. You get… hm, more to learn from other people or more things to talk about.”

He looks past her shoulder to where Cloud has given up on waiting them sitting by the flowers, now lying on the floor like a lazy cat out in a garden during a summer day. Sephiroth thinks about all the things he doesn’t know about this short, yet very noticeable cadet, about Zack ( _Why does your girlfriend look like she’s related to me?_ ) and about the past; the things that happened before he even came alive.

_So much yet to learn_ , his curiosity is tickled by such a thought.

“Maybe you have a point.”

Aerith nods at that with an expression that reminds him so much of Genesis that it’s almost painful; that one look of “ _Of course I’m right_ ” that never failed even once at making Sephiroth either roll his eyes or smile… or _both_.

Wordlessly, she turns away from him to join Cloud, leaving him to follow after her; being unable not to wonder whether or not Zack is aware of those things. Once they’re all properly seated by the flower bed — the presence of which seems like a puzzle, given that, unless it’s a potted plant kept above the plate, plants aren’t meant to survive for long in the environment of Midgar — Aerith exchanges a look with the blond and a silent agreement, before talking again.

“I think what we’re here for is to make it clear how Cloud traveled through time.”

It’s a general agreement between the three of them. The infantryman urges her to explain instead of having him do it. Sephiroth wonders about how complicated the matter of it might be.

“In my family,” she says, “the women aren’t only born being able to ‘listen’ to the Planet. We’re also born with the ability to perform a forbidden magic… which Cloud’s a victim of.”

“So, as far as I understand, you can travel through time?”

“No, no, silly.” She chuckles and Sephiroth basks in the audacity she has, like a child playing with fireworks; not knowing about the potential danger of it and fearless in such ignorance. He catches Cloud snorting at it in an attempt to disguise laughter.

_You just called the general of the most important corporation in the world ‘silly’_.

( _Well played!_ )

“We can only send back other people, because that comes at a heavy price: You have to die to be sent.”

_And Cloud died_ , he thinks and gets the picture, then.

“But if you’re not sending yourself back, how would you know that you sent someone else?”

“I ‘smell’ of afterlife, apparently,” Cloud says and goes back into lying on the ground like a tired tabby cat.

Aerith laughs at that, the sound of it a timeless thing that somehow has Sephiroth understanding a little more the... _time mage_ nature she claims to have — a nature he doesn’t question after they talked away from the blond for that one moment. ( _If you can do something unusual, it wouldn’t be surprising if you can do something else that’s also unusual._ )

“You smell fine to me,” he teases the cadet, who simply blushes and curls into a ball.

_He looks like a fusion of a chocobo with a hedgehog. It’s quite… adorable_ , Sephiroth thinks.

It only makes Aerith’s effort to catch her breath more difficult after laughing so much at such antics.

“Well, it’s not literally, thankfully,” she giggles and picks up a flower, only to put it on Cloud’s hair, “but here, now you can smell just like a flower.”

At that, Sephiroth understands a little what Cloud might’ve been trying to do when bringing him to such a place and such a company; he needs to avoid falling into despair, needs to stay on a bright path so his mind and his spirit become harder to break or to be influenced in the case they need to… face their monster _together_.

It also has him thinking about… something else that has him concerned and lingering behind for a moment longer to ask Aerith something before they return to the headquarters.

She had mentioned Cloud told her about their strange predicament, after all.

“I know you mentioned it’s a _forbidden_ magic, but in the case we fail, in the case he dies again…” Sephiroth hesitates “Could it be repeated?”

She nods. “His mind and body would only remember his last death and the events before it, but yes.” Then, playfully she suggests “Would you like me to do it?”

It sounds as if he’s about to make a deal with Hel herself.

“Yes… unless there are any drawbacks,” he agrees to it anyway.

“Hm, there’s one. Say, if we were to repeat this enough times, the Planet would remember and it wouldn’t take it kindly against any of us.”

“Meaning?”

“It could become _worse_. He could forget he’s ever time traveled, for one. Something different could happen and you’d fail anyway, even if he lives. I could lose the power to do it and never know about it. We could never meet, and so on.” Aerith sighs at the prospect. “Would you _still_ want me to do it?”

His simple nod seals the deal as a weird sensation courses through him. Not even the risks can shake his resolve of fighting such a terrible fate. And yet, he can’t free himself from the feeling he already agreed to such a deal before.

Just as he leaves, Aerith can sense it in the echo of him that his spirit leaves behind. But she thinks better of it than following Sephiroth to confirm the truth.


	6. Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _(A monster is, sometimes, a man in a lab coat.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No chocobos were harmed in the making of this (Or were they?)
> 
> A warning for violence/death goes here.

After they part ways exactly where they met before leaving for the church, Cloud… disappears again, just like a Turk in infantryman blues going on a delicate mission.

Sephiroth, for various reasons, finds the prospect of it intensely distressing. Even more when he’s informed that he’ll go in mission to Nibelheim as soon as the arrangements for it are concluded. He leaves the company in the middle of one particularly difficult night to go to the church Cloud took him to meet Aerith that one time; not because he hopes to find her there so he can seek some sort of… comfort, no.

It’s the timeless nature of the place itself. That’s enough for him to relax at least for a moment.

Nibelheim is steadily approaching, and with it the answer to their question of whether or not they’ll successfully avoid the nasty effects of it. He can’t help but think that if he didn’t know, he wouldn’t be worrying so much about it, in the same fashion he often thinks of the matter of his mother. The knowledge of both her existence and the events that may happen in Nibelheim feeds his curiosity and only works to keep him going towards those in a pursuit to learn more; to seek a good outcome.

 _I feel as if somebody important to you is really troubled right now. Maybe she’s been for a long while_ , Aerith’s words flutter back to him from his memory.

 _I’m troubled too_.

Sephiroth finds it strange that, when he looks at the spot where Cloud curled up into himself the day they visited Aerith in this place, he misses him in almost the same way he misses Angeal and Genesis, despite knowing so little about the trooper and having spent similarly little time around him as well.

He blames it on his getting obsessed with learning more about what may happen in Nibelheim, rather than choosing to believe he somehow got attached like that in such a short while.

In the silence of the church, the sound his phone makes when he receives a message is almost deafening.

“ _I’m in an elevator. Hojo’s here too. I don’t like the way he’s looking at me._ ”

The pang of fear that takes over him is enough to have his body moving before he can think, so much that he bumps into a rather alarmed Aerith on his way out. It seems as if she left her house in a hurry, by the way her hair isn’t contained in its usual braid and by the oversized coat she’s wearing.

“I felt— There’s something very wrong going on,” she says.

“I know. I was just heading back.”

She grabs his hand and puts something round and small on it. Materia, he realizes, apparently a restorative one.

“I really hope you don’t need this.”

It’s convenient, as he left home with nothing but Masamune — just in the case he’d find monsters lingering around — and a fire materia, as the bangle he uses for missions was left behind. He thanks her and dashes out and on his way back to the headquarters. If she seems to linger behind instead of going back home… well, he doesn’t question it.

* * *

All the way back, he kept trying to get in contact with Cloud, only to get redirected to his voice mail instead. ( _Hi, this is Cloud. I don’t know why you’d call me but leave a message, maybe?_ ) Sephiroth left a message once — “It’s me. If you got out of that elevator safe, _please_ call back.” — but that didn’t yield any results and so, he kept trying.

When the elevator drops him at the Science department’s floor, he’s filled by nothing but pure rage.

He’s ready to barge into the labs when he hears the scream and pauses just outside the door, trying to make out what’s going on inside before entering, despite the fact that doing so makes his stomach turn in an unpleasant way.

“You should be pleased, boy!” Sephiroth can hear Hojo yell “At least your remains will be useful here... where you can’t ruin years of planning again!”

There’s a sickly sounding noise and more screaming that makes Sephiroth slash the door open, drawing attention to his presence almost immediately. Hojo is in the middle of twisting what looks like a small dagger into Cloud’s belly, the latter tied up to a wall. (Not the chest, but dangerous nonetheless.) He leaves it there as he turns to greet Sephiroth as if he’s doing nothing out of the ordinary.

This, of course, earns him a Masamune in the chest.

“Ugh… ungrateful little monster…” the man manages but Sephiroth doesn’t dignify himself to give an answer, shoving the blade deeper and tossing Hojo aside as soon as he’s sure the older man won't be an issue any longer; promptly sheathing his sword afterwards.

 _The only monster I see here is dead_.

Sephiroth dashes to the blond’s side as soon as he can to provide assistance, maybe a little too fast, even.

“...Se—… Seph—… roth?” He asks in a broken whisper.

“Shh, save your energy. Stay awake for me, please.”

Just as fast as he can, Sephiroth's pulling out the knife and making sure nothing else is wrong that requires non-magical treatment before casting a cure. It slowly sews the wound shut, keeping more blood from coming out. It repairs tissues even inside. However, it’s incapable of recovering any lost blood.

“So… tired…” The cadet mumbles as his bounds are undone, making him fall forward into Sephiroth's arms. Even in his weakness, he reaches out for something on the general’s back, sending a shiver down the taller man’s spine. Sephiroth looks over and notices with a certain horror something that shouldn't be there.

 _A wing_.

“I… didn’t die… right?” Cloud manages, causing the general to look down at him.

“As if I’d allow it,” Sephiroth says but he’s nervous both about it — after all, death is something out of his control and it could’ve happened tonight — and the intrusive appendage on his back. How could he not even notice it’s appearance? How long had it been there? Was it a sign he would end up the way Angeal and Genesis did? _Did that make him… a monster?_

“Then… why are you… an angel?” There’s a weak, yet noticeable smile accompanying that. It’s not an entirely genuine question about that new part of himself.

Sephiroth doesn’t know how to take this. So he just doesn’t.

“You... shouldn’t talk. The blood loss is probably getting to your head.”

His face feels rather warm and he notices Cloud trying to chuckle before being taken by a cough fit that’s quite concerning.

“I’m… I’m fine…” the blond says in an attempt to dispel that concern “I just… you are… blushing.”

“I’m _not_ and you should shut up. We… need to get out of the building. And out of Midgar.” After all, what was one supposed to do after killing a head of a department? And mostly important, what was the point in staying in Shinra after that — and after everything that happened and that he knew that was allowed to happen?

The blond groans when he’s properly picked up, mostly likely due to the lingering pain that couldn’t be soothed by the cure.

At some point before they make it out of the building, the cadet — or former cadet, as they’re not likely to return — simply falls asleep. Sephiroth checks with a Sense materia he retrieved on his way out to make sure the blond’s alright, but finds nothing wrong with him other than the tiredness caused by that whole ordeal. Maybe it’s for the best that he sleeps anyway, for the time being at least.

 _And then_ , he thinks, _onto the plan of eliminating whatever’s in Nibelheim before Shinra gets to it_.


	7. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _(A reunion before a departure and the meeting of an old friend)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: I didn't beta/edit this at all. (And don't feel like doing it.) So there might be typos. Excuse me for that.
> 
> Another warning: Jenova shenaningans.
> 
> No flowers were harmed in the making of this.

Cloud buries his face against his feathers for warmth and comfort, and breathes against the softness of them in sheer relief.

Sephiroth thinks back on the time the shorter man realized (properly, after waking up) that he had a wing; the confused expression on a tired, still sleepy face and the touching, the wondering, his attempts at comforting him once the former general made it clear its presence bothered him in certain ways.

Before he even realized he could manifest and withdraw the wing at will, the first night he spent near Cloud and away from Shinra involved using it as a large blanket of sorts to keep them both warm. (After all, if it wasn’t going anywhere, he’d rather find an use for it than let himself fall into despair and try to cut it out. Even if it was difficult not to feel repulsed by it.) They had scared Aerith a little with it at first, along with their return, — or rather, he had, while Cloud slept like a log — even if it looked like she had been expecting them to come back to the church to at least rest a little before continuing on.

She’d run curious yet cautious fingers through his feathers in a way that was oddly soothing, while he used her phone — as his was left behind to avoid being tracked down — to let Zack know they were leaving, and why. He figured that if anyone else needed to know about the incident in the labs, that one was Zack Fair.

Once Cloud was fully awake again and properly informed of their whereabouts, he started telling him a little alarmed that, somehow, Hojo knew about most of what they were up to. And that, for whatever reason, Aerith was constantly watched by Turks. That they could’ve been followed as they spoke and _Gaia, is that really a wing?_

_Yes, it is. And you sort of flirted with me back in the labs._

Sephiroth recalled Cloud not speaking much after that, falling asleep again once they found a means of transport to get out of Midgar at once — which could be good, considering he suffered from motion sickness and needed a way to at least attempt to avoid it — and only waking up again when they arrived at their (non-permanent) destination.

As it turned out, the blond was torn at the thoughts of almost dying at the hands of a madman and sort of flirting with Sephiroth — right after almost dying.

Sephiroth did his best to reassure him that he didn’t mind it, as the most important thing was that Cloud was alive and well; that they had space to get to know each other better then, which turned out to be a good idea in the end.

As they traveled across towns and continents, they eventually became each other's anchor.

Cloud kisses his wing once, then turns to look up at him, somewhat apprehensive and seeking any manifestations of love to feel comforted at such a dire time. The weather outside is colder than it was on the day before it, when they arrived.

_Oh, Nibelheim_.

There were more reasons than one for anyone to keep their distance from that town, as Cloud had told him. For one, the entire town — with the exception of the younger man’s mother — seemed to despise the blond, being one of the reasons why Cloud had left it in the first place. And in another hand, the cultural values of the place made it so that if they were ever caught holding hands where someone could see, they’d probably be chased out of town by angry locals with their torches and pitchforks.

( _“Truly backwater, I see,” he said after the blond mentioned that. Cloud chuckled at that, somewhat sad, before agreeing_. _Sephiroth tried to avoid the thought that such town would be better burning to the ground_.)

Sephiroth touches the other man’s face gently before kissing his forehead in a similar manner. _It’ll be alright_ , he wants to say, but isn’t quite sure of it himself. His uncertainty is part of the reason — the other part being him not wanting to worry Cloud further — that, in the end, he keeps to himself the fact that he can feel a little pressure on the back of his mind; one that doesn’t belong to him and insists in trying to make room for itself.

It calls him to the mountains and on his refusal, it gives him headaches.

He blames it on the weather, the stress from what they’re about to deal with, and Cloud doesn’t question him on that. It makes him hate that the blond doesn’t and hate that he doesn’t just open his mouth to say it already.

But any feelings of hate make that strange presence insist further, so he tries not to think much about it.

* * *

“Are you sure about ditching the guide?” Sephiroth asks, only to see a hint of bitterness cross Cloud’s face.

“I don’t want to involve anyone from this town in this. I just want to do this and leave.”

“Alright.”

Their way up their mountain is marked by wildlife getting in the way and Sephiroth feeling more than just glad that he’s been training Cloud since he’d recovered after the incident with Hojo; glad that they stopped at a weapons shop one day and bought the blond a sword. It’s also marked by the increasing agony of getting closer and closer to the reactor, by the thoughts of what he learned since they left Shinra that circulate in his mind.

As it turns out, his mother was never named Jenova neither was (in a technical sense, at least) alive, after all. She was just a scientist in an eternal crystal prison; forever atoning for her sins.

He tries to keep her in his thoughts the closer they get to their destination; tries to think of her as someone who was working on the wrong side yet convinced she was doing the right thing for the world. He’s able to think of her in a positive light, despite her crimes.

Unlike her, that which calls him to the reactor doesn’t seem apologetic at all.

When they’re finally in the area, Sephiroth hands over any means he has of attacking, rather apprehensive about it. He’s afraid of what he might do if let alone with such things in his current state. Cloud stands on his tiptoes to kiss him briefly and whisper what they’ve been avoiding saying to one another.

“It’ll be alright.”

And with that, the blond leaves to enter the reactor.

* * *

It’s not alright.

The presence is finally able to seize him, speaking of becoming one and traveling through the stars; through the beyond. It screams desperately inside his head and shares its feelings. It’s on fire and it makes him feel like burning too, even if there’s no fire near him.

It drives him to the need of doing something about whoever is causing that to happen and so, he bursts into the reactor without thinking, pure instinct guiding him.

Cloud was reckless enough to leave Masamune by the entrance of the chamber.

All of it happens too fast. One moment there’s peace and in the next, Cloud’s turning to block his blade with his own; trying not to fall victim to his own surprise as he catches the sight of glowing green eyes staring into his own with vicious intent clear as day. Behind him, something is burning inside a broken tube. The nasty smell of it fills the chamber but goes mostly ignored as Cloud tries his best to fight back and avoid his possible fate.

The lack of enhancements means that soon enough the blond’s on the floor; Masamune hovering ominously over his chest. _Too close to his heart_.

A moment after, however, and Sephiroth’s left hand starts shaking, until he's unable to hold on the weapon and it falls to the floor near them, missing Cloud’s arm by mere inch. He clutches his head and sinks to the floor, trembling all over now.

“...Seph?” Cloud approaches with caution.

There's screaming and there's a wing coming out of hiding along with it. It all makes him a difficult man to drag out of the chamber, let alone the reactor itself, but Cloud tries it; barely making it out before the entire thing blows up on the inside — the outside being too sturdy to follow, as it was built with wildlife in mind.

Sephiroth trembles for a while longer after they make it to safety, the echo of the monster’s pain still there making his head hurt. As he slowly comes back from the uncomfortable high it provided, the realization hits him.

“I almost… I c-could have…”

“Shh, it’s alright now,” Cloud runs a hand through his hair, trying to soothe him, “I’m here, it’s okay.” However, he sounds as shocked as Sephiroth is about that entire situation, himself.

And as they have a moment of relief to recover from it all, Sephiroth notices how, despite his headache, he feels lighter than he did before coming to the reactor.

* * *

In Midgar, a train runs its way to Sector 1; the two unnoticed “passengers” on top of it sharing a brief moment of calm before the storm.

“When this work is done, I think we should have dinner at that place in Sector 7,” Sephiroth suggests.

Cloud looks at him in disbelief.

“Bomb a reactor, then eat some sushi?”

“Actually, I was thinking about their adamantaimai soup.”

“Is that what you do when I’m not around? You get yourself Wutaian food full of the stuff we fought on our way back here?” The blond feigns disgust.

Sephiroth chuckles at that, but doesn’t deny it.

“It tastes better than what you expect, if that’s your concern.” He approaches until his lips are a breath away from Cloud’s. “And they serve the best dessert in town.”

“Alright, you have me at dessert.”

When their train finally stops, they jump out of it, surprising the few random Shinra soldiers on duty there — who aren’t killed, but certainly get knocked out for being in the way.

They find the person who hired them and follow him to the location of their mission, being left to their own devices for quite a while; enough to place the bomb (meant to damage only the interior of the reactor) and leave. Thankfully, it’ll be fast and they won’t have to deal with being inside a reactor for long, potentially remembering things they would rather forget.

_An easy work_.

On their way out, they come across a familiar face: a man in a SOLDIER 1st uniform, looking rather desperate. Cloud’s the one who catches the face before the outfit and keeps Sephiroth from simply advancing. _It’s just Zack_. Except Zack is on the side of the enemy now, and Sephiroth observes him with caution; stays wary even as the man dashes to hug both of them.

_But yes, we missed you too_.

“Shinra took Aerith,” he explains his despair “I need help breaking her out.”

Both Sephiroth and Cloud exchange looks, silently coming to a decision.

“We’ll help you. But you’ll need to leave Shinra and join us.” Sephiroth offers. _Why did you keep working for them, anyway?_

As Zack eagerly agrees to that, the three of them leave to come up with a plan for that unexpected new mission. A discussion they have over adamantaimai soup, in a little restaurant on Sector 7.

Unexpectedly, that would lead them into yet another journey.


End file.
